Day 1 in London

We had a good night's sleep, and a bit of a lie in this morning. It was good to have long Skype phone calls with Andrew and then Michelle, to catch up on all the news.

Then we headed out on a fine sunny morning. We walked a little way alongside the Thames, and then caught a bus the rest of the way to Parliament Square in Westminster. Here, we got a bit tangled up in a Tamil protest that was blocking the streets. Lots of police and lots of noise, but a peaceful protest. We worked our way around them, through Parliament Square (looking at the various famous statues there) and joined the queue to get into Westminster Abbey at 9.30 am. While we waited to get in, we read Rick Steve's tour article about the Abbey and got some good background of what we were about to see. When we got in, we were given an audio guide which directed us around the various points of interest in the Abbey. It was very interesting.

After the hour/hour and a half at the Abbey, we headed up Whitehall, following Rick Steve's walking tour. We stood on Westminster Bridge and looked at the Parliament Buildings and Big Ben, then headed up, past Downing Street towards Trafalgar Square. We had lunch at Leon's in the Strand (great range of gluten free food). Then we walked a little before catching a bus ( we went on the top of a double-decker) through the financial district, before getting off at St Paul's Cathedral. I kept having in my mind about the 'Feed the Birds' Song from Mary Poppins.

We spent about an hour and a half there, first listening to a podcast on my iPhone (with 2 sets of headphones plugged in) about the Cathedral, and then followed Rick Steve's tour in his book. It is a very beautiful place with an amazing history. We went down into the crypt, and then climbed the 249 stairs to the whispering gallery in the dome. We weren't game to climb any further!

Next, we wandered along to the Bank of England, and proceded to get terribly lost looking for its museum! Goodness knows how far we walked and what circles we went in, but we found the museum by pure fluke. I had a rest there, while David had a look around. Then we decided to catch the Tube across to get a ride on the London Eye. Catching the correct train proved to be a bit of a challenge, but a kind worker at the metro saw us trying to figure out the Northern Line to get there. We eventually found our way across the Jubilee Bridge, and along the Golden Jubilee walkway to the London Eye. David went to purchase a ticket, and then we lost each other for 5-10 minutes before joining the fast-moving queue and enjoying the 30 minute turn. The views were indeed magnificent, the sky still clear and blue. We thought it wise to do this today, instead of tomorrow (that was what we'd originally planned), because there is some rain in the forecast, and we wanted to make the most of the clear weather.

By now we were getting pretty tired and foot-sore so we headed to Westminster Tube Station and across to Victoria, intending to pick up some salads again, from the Marks and Spencer Fresh store, then to make our way back to where we're staying. Unfortunately, we also hit rush hour.......... oh boy! Knowing how David breaks out in a sweat in crowds.... AND.... we got lost in the crowd at Victoria Station and I ended up asking a policeman how to find the metro again :-(Phew, we got back to Pimlico and stopped in for a much-needed beer and glass of wine. I checked out the menu for "gluten-freeness" and we might dine there tomorrow evening before our Show - 'Wicked'.

Right now, we've just finished our salads and are enjoying being off our feet!

This morning I managed to upload some photos I'd taken with my iPhone. Not sure that I'll be able to get some off my camera because the computer here is not meant to have various drives etc plugged into it. Nevertheless, I'm about to try. You'll know if I succeeded!